There’s no right or wrong way to edit video, says Gail Mooney. Nonetheless, Mooney clearly knows great ways to get a quality video out the door fast, as proved by the video featured in my last post. As soon as I saw it go live — less than 48 hours after Mooney returned home from the road — I shot Mooney an email asking her how the hell she did it so fast. Her answer:
“When pinched for time, the trick I’ve learned is that it helps to listen carefully and remember the good soundbites. Then you go looking for them, rather than having to scroll through everything.
“After I found the soundbites I wanted, I laid them out in a timeline and slept on it. Came in this morning with a fresh mind, I cut out 60%. From there it was easy: I just needed to hide my cuts with relevant b-roll (didn’t even look for the best) and color correct the clips to match (sort of). Really down and dirty and certainly not polished, but I wanted to get it out for the ASMP Best of 2010 online issue.”
OK. Good fast and smart answers for fast and smart video editing. But I wanted some clarification, and I figured that Mooney would have answers that would of interest to all you Faithful Readers who are trying to improve your video editing skills. Here are my follow-up questions and Mooney’s responses, which she gave me permission to publish, “bad work habits and all.”
Q: To remember the good sound bites, do you note timing or use some aid to locate them easily?
A: I rely on my memory and make mental notes when I am doing the interview. The real zingers stand out. But I do try to make a notation on my question list as far as at what point in the interview the remarks were made. Looking at my watch – not very scientific but it gets me in the ballpark. If I were working with a crew – I’d have someone keeping track of this by writing down the time code on the digital recorder or camera. However, that is one big shortcoming of the Canon 5D Mark II – no time code!
Q: Can you clarify “go look for them, not having to scroll”? Are you saying you ONLY listened at first, not watching as well? And what do you mean, exactly, about not having to “scroll” through all?
A: Every “camera file” is a QuickTime file that I can scrub through — with the playbar — looking for the right soundbite. I do this with the camera file and camera audio even though I won’t use this audio. It is quicker for me.
Q: When you laid them out on timeline was this video and audio together?
A: I bring my video clip (camera file) into Final Cut Pro – as well as my audio files. After I import the files, I do loose in and out points on both and then bring them down into the timeline. I can either match (sync) them by looking at the audio file peaks when I “clapped” or used a clapboard or I can use a software called PluralEyes which I hear is amazing in syncing sound with video.
Q: If your audio was not synced to video (as in, audio interviews without video), would you still have approached this first part the same way? (I am facing this now with still images and audio from a tango event.)?
A: Then it’s a bit easier in that you don’t have to sync anything. So, I would pull out my best soundbites, lay them down in an order that best delivers your message and then pick the right visuals to illustrate it. That’s how I work – but many other people pick their images first. No right or wrong way.
More Editing and Video Storytelling Insights from Mooney?
Check her great Journeys of a Hybrid blog!
